The present invention relates to containers for carrying loose or bulk products of the type comprising a generally parallelepipedal body having at least one closable opening for introduction of loose or bulk products inside it, and an end wall equipped, at the bottom, with means for unloading the loose products.
The body of such containers is traditionally made of metal, generally steel. In order to prevent the loose products introduced into the container from being contaminated by possible contaminating agents, known containers of this type are normally provided, on the inside, with a protective bag, referred to as xe2x80x9clinerxe2x80x9d, which is usually made of plastic material to prevent direct contact between the loose products and the internal walls of the body of the container. The protective liner is for the most part formed at the bottom with a tubular appendage, which can be used for outlet of the loose products through a circular opening for discharge.
The above solution is relatively complicated and costly both on account of the presence of the protective liner and as regards disposal of the protective liner itself, which must be removed and replaced whenever the container is used for carrying products that are different. Furthermore, the conformation of the liner reduces the useful space available inside the container.
According to a further known solution, the body of the container is made of aluminium, which avoids the need for recourse to the internal protective liner, and the discharging means consist, also in this case, of a circular outlet to which there is associated a shut-off valve having a complementary shape. The latter solution is, however, costly if the expenses of fabrication and possible repair connected to the use of aluminium are taken into account.
A further drawback which regards the above known solution lies in the fact that the discharge of loose products through the shut-off valve is relatively slow owing to the modest cross section of the outlet, whereas, instead, a high speed of discharge would be desirable.
The object of the present invention is to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks.
According to the invention, the above purpose is achieved essentially thanks to the fact that a container for carrying loose products of the type defined at the beginning of this description is characterized in that the body is made of stainless steel and said discharging means include:
at least one generally elongated opening;
a door which can be displaced between a closed position and an open position of said elongated opening; and
a conveyor made up of a flexible element generally shaped like a funnel with a widened end fixed at the edge of said elongated opening, and a restricted free end, said conveyor being able to assume a configuration in a generally packed condition within said elongated opening in the position of closing of said door, and a configuration in a distended condition outside the body in the position of opening of said door.
Thanks to the above idea of solution, the same advantage is achieved as that of containers with a body made of aluminium, i.e., the elimination of the protective liner, which is, instead, used in traditional containers made of steel, with further advantages both in terms of simplification of construction and in terms of greater speed in discharging the loose products from the container.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the aforesaid elongated opening extends substantially throughout the width of the end wall of the body of the container. Alternatively, there may be provided more than one elongated opening, and in this case the container may be divided internally into different sections designed to contain different products, each of which can be discharged separately through a respective elongated opening.
According to a further advantageous characteristic of the invention, the container may moreover comprise closing means for fastening in a removable way the aforesaid flexible conveyor in an area near to said widened end.